site.btaEU Rail Network Down from 1990, Bulgaria Also Lower in 2024

The European Union's railway network stood at 201,314 km in 2024, down 8.7% from 1990, Eurostat said on Monday. Bulgaria's network shrank by 6.4% to 4,025 km.

The European Union's railway network had a total length of 201,314 km in 2024, the latest data from Eurostat, published on its website on Monday, showed. This represented an 8.7% drop from 1990, when the bloc's rail network stood at 220,420 km.

Among EU countries for which data were available, Germany had the longest railway network at 38,855 km, followed by France with 27,564 km and Poland with 19,625 km.

In 2024, Bulgaria's railway network had a length of 4,025 km. From 1990 to 2024, Bulgaria's railway network shrank from 4,299 km to 4,025 km, a drop of about 6.4%, a check of Eurostat's database showed.

The smallest railway networks in the EU were in Luxembourg with 271 km, Estonia with 1,171 km, Slovenia with 1,208 km and Greece with 1,822 km, while Cyprus and Malta were the only EU countries without rail transport.

Among EU countries in 2024, the highest railway network density was in Czechia, where there were 123.2 metres of rail lines per sq. km., followed by Belgium with 118.7 metres per sq. km. and Germany with 110 metres per sq. km..

The lowest railway network density in the EU was in Greece with 14 metres per sq. km., Finland with 19.4 metres per sq. km. and Sweden with 26.8 metres per sq. km.